Nice Guys Win in the End
by Keket
Summary: Sakura begins to see Lee in a new light and soon finds herself feeling more than friendship towards him. But can she get over her past crush of Sasuke enough to let Lee completely into her heart. LeeSaku


Title: Nice Guys Win in the End

Author: Keket

Rating: R (L, SC)

Pairing: LeeSaku (with hints of NaruIno)

Summary: Sakura begins to see Lee in a new light and soon finds herself feeling more than friendship towards him. But can she get over her past crush of Sasuke enough to let Lee completely into her heart. LeeSaku

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Nice Guys Win in the End

Chapter 1

Changes

The sound of laughter and chatting filled Ino's apartment. It was a little past midnight and Sakura was enjoying herself at Ino's along with Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neiji, TenTen and Lee. They were celebrating Ino's promotion to jounin, just having some drinks, listening to music and talking. The only one who did not have any alcohol was Lee. Everyone knew what one sip of alcohol would do to Lee. Instead, he just drank juice, while everyone else was getting either fully or partially drunk.

Sakura was a bit lightheaded but not drunk. She did not wish to wake up in the morning with a dreadful hangover. She did that once before and vowed never to do it again. It was not a pleasant experience and she had no intentions of ever repeating it. She just drank enough to relax and enjoy herself.

She surveyed those around her. It was weird sometimes how things could change. Ino and Naruto had actually warmed up to each other over the past few months, noticing that they had also started to subtly flirt with one another. When someone would point it out though, they would completely deny it. Hinata seemed to have gotten over her childhood crush on Naruto. Her and Neiji had overcome their differences and now he was like a big brother to Hinata. She was no longer as timid as she used to be and had become more confident in herself.

Sakura then glanced over at Lee. Her and Lee had become close friends over the course of the last couple of years. His flirtatious advances towards her had calmed down and now he had become someone she could confide in and a shoulder to cry on when she needed it. He was one of the nicest and attentive guys she had ever known, a stark contrast to Sasuke's personality.

Lee felt someone's eyes keenly on him. He faintly turned and met Sakura's creamy jade eyes staring at him, as if she was in deep thought. He flashed her a quick wink and she slightly smiled and abruptly turned away. _Was she just blushing? _Lee's heart pumped a little faster and he swallowed hard.

He had stopped pursuing Sakura romantically and that helped to pave the way for them to become friends, but even though he did not overly flirt with her anymore, that did not mean that he no longer had any romantic feelings for her. It was quite the opposite. His feelings for her had become even deeper after getting to know her more personally. He wanted to respect her decision of not pursuing anything more than friendship with him, not to say, that it did not bother him a little of having to pretend that all she was to him was a close friend.

Sakura got up and stretched. "I'm sorry Ino but I think I am going to head on home. It's getting late." Ino pouted.

Lee quickly rose up. "I think I'm going to go home too." He turned toward Sakura. "Do you mind if I walk with you?" he asked.

"Of course not." She replied.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Naruto hollered at them and chuckled. Ino smacked him on the head. "Ow! What did ya do that for?" He rubbed his head.

Ino just glared at him. "Just ignore him," she tossed back at Sakura as her and Lee started to walk out the door.

"Like always!" Sakura smiled and everyone burst out laughing. _It wasn't that_ _funny _But they were drunk, so she just shrugged and walked out the door with Lee behind her.

The night sky was starless and the only light came from a few faint street lamps. Sakura and Lee walked side by side in silence. Normally, they would be talking non-stop to each other, but Sakura could not think of anything say, she just chewed on her bottom lip and stared down at the ground. What was wrong with her?

Something felt different inside and she could not quite put her finger on the cause. She had noticed it for most of the evening, something gnawing at her inside, troubling her. It seemed to intensify when she spoke or looked at Lee tonight. Maybe it was the alcohol.

Lee was beginning to feel a bit nervous. Sakura was being so quiet and that was not like her. Was it because of him? Did he do something to offend her tonight?

"Sakura," She jumped, a bit startled at hearing her name. "Is something wrong?" Lee asked, concerned. "Did I do something wrong tonight?" He sounded a bit hurt.

"No…no," Sakura replied, trying to sound reassuring. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately." Which was a slight understatement.

"You know you can always come to me if you ever need to talk."

She tenderly smiled and his heartbeat quickened. "Yeah, I know." Sakura grabbed onto his arm.

They walked together in silence, arm in arm. Lee no longer felt nervous or worried about Sakura. He was content, being with her like this. The streets were practically deserted. It was if they were the only two people left in the world.

Lee immediately stopped. "Here is my stop. Will you be okay walking the rest of the way to your place alone? Cause, I can always escort you if you want me to." He asked. He knew Sakura did not like to be treated as though she were some fragile doll, which is why he merely asked, instead of insisting on escorting her home.

Sakura was standing in front of his door. "Thanks for asking, but I am sure I can manage on my own." She replied. As she turned to walk away from him, they both heard something overhead begin to fall.

Lee quickly responded, his fast speed pushing Sakura out of the way and up against his door. They heard a small crash as a small wooden crate busted on the ground. _That was close_ Thank goodness Lee moved so quickly, since she was not paying any attention, she would have ended up knocked out or something if the crate had landed on her.

Sakura was going to tell him thank you until she unexpectedly noted the close proximity of their bodies. She was pushed up against Lee's door and Lee was just a centimeter away from her, his hands up against the door, one on each side of her head, caging her in. Her pulse accelerated as she found herself staring deeply into his large dark eyes. They looked serious.

Standing this close to Sakura, Lee's heart began to pound loudly in his chest. Her eyes looked deep into his, as if asking him a silent question. He saw her delicately wet her lips slowly and he softly groaned at the action. He knew he could no longer deny it; deny the strong feelings the pulsated through his body any longer. He had to act, even knowing that it might ruin their friendship, that she may just smack him and walk away. _But wouldn't she have hit me and walked away already?_ Being in this position, instead, she looked just as conflicted as he did.

"Sakura," he whispered, his breath caressing her cheeks. "I can't pretend with you anymore." He laid his forehead against hers. "I can't pretend to be just friends when I feel so much more than that for you." Sakura's mind was spinning as she grasped what he was saying. "I know it could ruin our friendship but I just can't bottle it up anymore." Lee lifted his head up from hers and looked into her bright eyes, waiting for her to reject him.

She just stood there, blinking up at him. In the back of her mind, she knew this was coming, that sooner or later, Lee would confess to her. She valued his friendship and had expertly came up with excuses to let him down easy if this was ever to crop up. But now, being this close to him, all those excuses were lost on her lips. Replacing those excuses were questions, questions of how his lips would feel against hers, how his strong arms would feel around her, holding her tightly to him. Was it the alcohol doing this to her? Part of her really did not care, all it wanted was to touch him, hold him close.

His black eyes pleaded with hers, that she would take it easy on him. _What the_ _hell _She told herself, her hand cupping the side of his cheek. She closed the small distance between them, gently brushing her lips over his.

His eyes widened in surprise. He had not expected her to do that, to smack him yes, but not to kiss him. He was not complaining, it was just he hadexpected a rejection. Instead, she was gently smiling up at him. He smiled back at her and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her flush against him and kissed her deeply. She clung to him as if she was clinging to dear life itself, letting her emotions take over.

"Hey is that Lee?" Naruto asked, squinting towards Lee's apartment.

"Yeah," TenTen answered, "and Sakura too, I think."

Naruto's eyes widened. "They're making out outside his door!' he exclaimed and frivolously chuckled.

"Shhh! Lower your voice or they'll hear us!" TenTen hissed at Naruto.

Naruto quieted down. "Well it's about damn time they got together!" he hissed back.

"Who cares," Shikamaru yawned. He just wanted to get home into bed.

TenTen glared at Naruto. "I would be one to talk."

"What do ya mean by that!" Naruto said, cocking his eyebrow up.

TenTen just rolled her eyes. "Let's just go and give them some privacy." She frowned. She should be happy for Lee. She knew how Lee felt about Sakura, but nonetheless, deep down she felt a bit sad.

The three of them walked away silently, taking a short cut, as not to be detected by Lee and Sakura.

A/N: I hope you liked this beginning. Sorry for it being a bit short but it would have been really too long if I had keep on going. I thought this was a nice way to end the chapter. I decided to start a LeeSaku story seeing as that there are not a whole lot of stories about them. I think Lee deserves some lovin especially with him being such a hard worker. Please leave reviews and let me know what you think.


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